Water. The True Saviour.
What are you exactly made of? Is it just the bones or the flesh? Well, our body is an 80% composition of water. Water can be termed as the most important necessity of life. None of our body functions would work the right way if we did not consume the adequate amount of water. Water is an unremovable part of our ‘balanced diet’ and there is certainly no survival without it. Same is the case with our little pups. They require water in the right amounts the same way we do. But unlike us, they are entirely dependent upon their owner to give them water from time to time. There have been several reports where just because of the negligence of the owner, the consequences were severe. Dogs ‘usually’ don’t come around asking for water when they need it. It is us who have to understand and observe the changes in the behaviour of our dogs.
But before we understand these behaviour changes, let us get an insight into how long our dog can actually survive without water.
When we talk about being healthy for some time without water, the inferences are usually directly proportional to the age, breed and activity of the dog. But, if this is not the case, there is surely some serious medical condition. But in general, a normal aged healthy dog can survive for 3 days without water.
Introducing some factor into this, the activity of the dog is another key aspect. The more active your dog is, the more water it will require. Thus, an active dog has more chances of dehydration than the rest. Also, talking about age, young and adult dogs require more amount of water than the older ones. This is quite an obvious conclusion as the metabolic rate in old dogs is much slower than the young ones.
The days a dog can go about without water is not exactly dependent upon the breed of the dog but the breed has an indirect relevance. This can be understood by the fact that the weather conditions play a major role in this case. In case of hot weather, the dogs like the hounds and the havanese which have a hairier coat are more likely to lose body fluid, thus feeling thirsty more often. This in turn reduces their water survival capacity to a day or half in summer.
Thus, if you forgot to fill your dog’s cup with water, there is nothing to panic about. It can surely survive for the time that you reach back. BUT the science that should not be forgotten here is that a deficiency of 10 % of water in your dog’s body can be fatal for it.
A loss of 5% of your dog’s water levels causes dehydration. dehydration in case not observed would be very dangerous for your dog as water is the main transporter of body fluids and nutrients in the body. Before we understand what adverse effects, dehydration has on our little fellow, let us first see what are the main roles that water plays for our dog.
The most important role that water plays along with transportation is the removal of toxins from the body. water does not let these chemicals build up in their body. With this, water also maintains the body temperature of their body. This is what leads to dogs feeling thirstier during summers as water makes an optimal temperature of their body in humid conditions.
Now that we know how essential water is for the healthy functioning, a glimpse into what deficiency of water can cause is quite mandatory. As mentioned earlier, dehydration can result to be fatal. A general confusion is observed in owners who feel that their dog might be dehydrated if it has not taken the required amount it should have consumed within the day. This confusion can be sorted once a person goes through the cause of dehydration.
Dehydration is most commonly observed in a dog due to the following reasons:
Reasons for Dehydration –
- Illnesses: this is usually the main reason of dehydration in dogs. Usually the dogs who have kidney issues become dehydrated much more often than others and thus feel thirstier.This is because these dogs would have high blood sugar levels which would cause their mouths to dry up very quickly. This has quite a clear indication as your dog will start becoming breathless quite often and would usually keep its tongue out. Due to this, you would also observe your dog passing larger volumes of urine than before due to the malfunctioning of the kidneys.
- Pregnancy: pregnancy and the nursing period can be the reason for the dog’s body to be dehydrated more often. This is because during pregnancy, the hormones produced cause a drastic change in the metabolic rate of the dog thus leading to a loss the total water content of the body.
- Sore mouth: This could be a reason for your dog not drinking the right amount of water. Apart from a sore mouth, your dog has had an internal mouth injury that could be quite painful, thus your dog might be avoiding to eat or drink.
Now that we know the causes of dehydration, we should also know how dehydration can be observed.
Some common signs of dehydration are –
1. As water helps in the digestion of food in dogs, a dehydrated dog would avoid much of its meals. This is because the dog would feel a loss in its appetite and thus, this acts as quite a clear indication that something is wrong with your little fellow.
2. Dogs do not sweat through their skin as they do not have any sweat glands like the humans present on their skin. A usual sign of thirst that is observed among them is panting. Thus, if your dog pants excessively after even a small task, there are chances your dog might be dehydrated.
3. Dehydration also means a restrained blood flow in the body of our dog. Thus, if our dog is dehydrated, it will most of the times be lethargic to perform any activity or play around. It would also stoop its neck while walking because of less energy in their body.
4. Another observable sign is the nose of your dog. A dog’s nose is supposed to be wet but if it is dry and rough, it is a clear indication. Along with this, sunken eyes and dry gums are also seen.
All the indications mentioned above only give a vague sign of knowing that your dog is dehydrated but to be sure shot, we need to follow the skin test.
Skin test –
1. For this, hold a fold of skin over the shoulder blades of your dog. Lift it up and wait for it to fall down. If the skin comes back into its right place in a few seconds, then your dog is completely healthy. But if the skin remains intact and takes much more time while falling down, your dog is dehydrated.
2. Another method to check this is through the gums of your dog. Open your dogs’ mouth and place your index finger in the upper gum. Press it till the gum begins a little white. After this, release your finger and note the time in which the gum regains its colour. If this takes more than 5 sec, your dog is dehydrated.
So, what to do if your dog does not take the right amount of water or simply denies it.
This could be explained much better through a video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r42shvK6aKE&pbjreload=10
Just drinking lots and lots of water in such a condition would not suffice the water that is flowing out at a faster rate. Thus, veterinary attention is most advised here.
But what to do next?
What if your dog is already dehydrated?
1. If your dog is severely dehydrated, rush to your vet who would give emergency care to your dog. Usually a drip is applied to your dog to replenish the body fluids and maintain an optimal temperature of their body. Also, your doctor would advise you to give small amounts of water.
2. In case of mild dehydration, mix a rehydration salt with water and give this dog in regular intervals. However, do not force large amounts of water on your dog as this would result in vomiting thus worsening the already present dehydration.
How would your VET confirm dehydration?
A vet usually confirms this through a blood test. Blood is taken from a large vein located in the neck of your dog called the jugular vein. The blood tests indicate the amount of water sample present. It is usually calculated in percentages and anything below 75% is termed as dehydration.
But we are sure that you would love to see your dog running around and showering love than lying unconscious on the hospital bed. Thus, it is much better that we go for precautions rather than looking for a cure.
So, to step up to the precautions, these are the steps that you should follow.
Precautions –
1. Always fill your dog’s bowl with water whenever your go out. There are pre-installed dog fountains also available in the market that can be easily put in your backyard so that in case you forget to fill the bowl, your dog won’t be thirsty.
2. After you and your dog have done some amounts of exercise, offer your dog sips of water to drink. If you are out and your feel thirsty, your dog might be thirsty too. So, consider your dog just like yourself and offer them water to drink on regular intervals.
3. Clean your dog’s bowl for any fungus or bacteria. Dirty bowls cause the dog to develop mouth infections and sore gums. This is one of the reasons dogs start to avoid food and water. Thus, a regular cleaning is mandatory.
4. Avoid exercising with your dog in hot weather. This is because the hot weather causes your dog to drink more water than required. This leads to vomiting and the body fluid levels go down. Thus, it is better not to take your dog out. Along with this, always carry a water bottle along with you whenever you go out with your dog.
5. Most importantly, never leave your dog in a car. People usually have this tendency to leave their dog in a car when going to a supermarket or for some work. Such type of behaviour should be completely avoided. Treat you dog like your own kid. We are sure you would never leave your kid in the car and go out for shopping.
6. At last, ensure that your dog has access to fresh, clean water throughout the day.
Remember that your dog needs water as much as you need it. We never forget to carry a water bottle for ourselves, but how can we forget to give water to our dog.
Thus, concluding on this note
“to the depths of seas and to the brink,
Weak as much for cups to drink,
Mighty as much to destroy the life,
Without water, it all tends to shrink”
Thus, water is very important for our survival. Make sure you and your dog both take water at regular intervals and the right amounts.